Binnenplaats van het Palazzo Vecchio te Florence, Italië 1857 - 1900

The Alinari Brothers made this albumen print of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy, sometime in the 19th century. Photography, although seemingly immediate, is a laborious process that combines science and art. The albumen print, popular then, involved coating paper with egg white and silver nitrate. This made a light-sensitive surface to capture the negative image from a glass plate negative. The Alinari Brothers were known for their detailed architectural studies, and here, they captured the courtyard's depth, the texture of the stone columns, and the delicate murals. Consider the social context; photography democratized image-making, documenting art and architecture for a wider audience beyond the elite who could travel or commission paintings. It also provided new forms of labour, and the Alinari Brothers ran what we might consider an early version of a 'creative industry'. This photograph testifies to a shift in how we perceive and preserve cultural heritage, making it accessible through mass production and distribution. It reminds us that every image involves choices, processes, and a vision of what is worth capturing and sharing.